From April 13 to September 2, 2012, the Tokyo Opera City will welcome the exhibition Beat Takeshi Kitano, Gosse de Peintre.

› Official website of the exhibition btk2012.jp

With joy, humor and seriousness, Beat Takeshi Kitano has thrown himself into Gosse de peintre, an unusual project that subtly, if impertinently, alights in the realm of childhood. Entirely created by Beat Takeshi Kitano, this site-specific exhibition for the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain was presented from March 11 to September 12, 2010. With paintings and videos, bizarre objects and settings, whimsical and fantastic machines, Kitano leads the visitor through surprises, gags and games, all the while mocking contemporary art, experimenting with the sciences and toying with clichés associated with his country, Japan.

A Singular Personality
Filmmaker, actor, TV presenter, comedian, painter, writer, Takeshi Kitano, also known as Beat Takeshi, is a singular personality. Famous throughout the world for his films, Takeshi Kitano commands an unequalled popularity in Japan as a comic and TV celebrity. Irrepressibly curious, passionate about the acquisition and passing on of knowledge, he adroitly switches genres and idioms, moving from violence to comedy, from over-the-top performances to deeply restrained ones.

A multifaceted Project
Meandering along a path studded with bizarre images, interactive workshops, gags and games, visitors enter a universe as joyful as it is rich and complex. Populated by imaginary animals amidst an array of inventions, sideshows and musings, Beat Takeshi Kitano’s exhibition is like a gigantic self-portrait, an expression of his dreams, ideas, and fantasies both as a child and an adult. The autobiographical nature of the exhibition is demonstrated through references to his childhood and hints to events in his life and even his name, which appears on objects and within the exhibition decor. This first exhibition of Beat Takeshi Kitano is one of the most ambitious projects ever created for the Fondation Cartier. It is designed for children, but speaks to adults.
With Gosse de peintre, Beat Takeshi Kitano takes children seriously and invites them to think, to dream and to join the show.

› Dedicated website (in japanese) to the Fondation Cartier exhibition in 2010